Lifeboat crew celebrate success of Tall Ships Regatta

David Sedgwick

Rescuers have several reasons to celebrate after a successful time at the Tall Ships Regatta in Blyth.

Members of Blyth RNLI Lifeboat were able to raise awareness of the organisation as well as funds.

The crew manned the station from the Friday to through to the Monday evening, meeting visitors and building relations and educating them on the role of the station and Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

The crew were also joined by colleagues and volunteers who represented fundraising, Respect The Water, education and face to face.

The Station’s Lifeboat Shop proved a hit with the public with more than £8,000 in sales over the weekend.

The public were also very generous in donations with a further £8,500 received via bucket collections and support from other exhibitors at the Regatta.

Although fundraising is important to the Charity the more important message that the Crew and Volunteers wanted to deliver was that of RespectTheWater.com due to the recent incidents around the coast.

Paul Raine, deputy launching authority for RNLI Blyth, said: “The Regatta and the number of visitors that it brought to Blyth meant we were able to educate the public on important safety messages and also what role the RNLI undertakes which was invaluable to us.

“We’d like to say ‘Thank You’ for the fantastic amount of money that we’ve been able to raise which enables us to continue to save lives at sea.

“We hoped the public enjoyed meeting the crew and volunteers as much as we enjoyed the experience and for us as a charity and a station the Regatta was a great success.”